Speaking Out
by SLPikachu
Summary: (Requested by Chloe2007) Alternate ending to my other story, Thanks. Kodi works up the courage to come forth and tells Luke what's going on at home before it's too late.


Speaking Out

It had been a few days since Kodi had come into the diner with a mysterious mark beside her eye. Luke was starting to get worried as the kid had actively come by, every day since the first day they met. Throughout the day, he would catch himself staring out the window, checking to see if she would come by, hoping things were just fine and he was just overthinking things. It had been quick, so Luke wasn't able to get a good look at the mark. From what he could tell, it did look like some kind of bruise. But from what? The kid was too nice and gentle to get into a fight. Maybe Kodi could have run into something, like a wall or something. Or…

Luke shook a horrid thought that had crossed his mind. He couldn't think that way. Something like that couldn't be true. Could it?

Just as Luke was about to head into the back, to take inventory of the latest order, the door opened, the ringing sound grabbing his attention as it spun around in hope. Sure enough, there she was. Relief washed over him as Luke let out a breath of air.

"Hey, Kodi. I've missed ya." His smiled quickly vanished when Luke noticed the droop of her shoulders as she stared at the floor. She was still wearing the hat that covered her face. Her arms were pressed against her sides, grasping the bottom of her striped shirt. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Luke slowly made his way over, concern all over his face.

He heard her sniff in. "Luke… Can-could I talk to you?" she asked, softly.

"Uh, sure, sweetheart. You want to have a seat?" He held a hand out towards the nearest empty table. Her head moved as if Kodi was looking around the diner.

After a minute or two, she asked, "Can we talk alone?"

"Um...sure, I guess. We can talk upstairs." Luke led Kodi, upstairs, to his apartment. Kodi kept her face hidden the whole way up the stairs and into the small apartment. He offered the couch where she went over and sat down. Sitting next to her, some distance apart, he asked, "so what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

There was some hesitance as Kodi wrung her hands in her lap.

Luke leaned forward on his knees. "You can tell me whatever you need to, sweetheart," he assured her.

"C-can you keep a secret?"

"Sure I can," he replied, feeling the nervousness the kid was giving off.

"You promise you won't tell anybody?"

"I promise, sweetheart. Now what is it you want to tell me?" Luke sounded a little firm as he repeated his previous question, but there was still some gentleness in his tone.

He saw Kodi raise her hand to touch the edge of her hat. Hesitating just a little, she lifted it up off her head, removing the hat. Kodi didn't looked up, but Luke could now see her face and the mark he had noticed the other day. It looked lighter, but still visible.

Reaching a hand out, Luke placed a gentle hand underneath her chin, pushing her head up to get an even better look. "What happened, sweetheart?"

The look in her emerald eyes gave off a look of a scolded puppy.

He placed his thumb right underneath the bruise, carefully examining the area. At least it seemed to be healing.

"Did someone do this to you?"

Kodi nodded, pitifully when Luke let go of her chin. "My dad...he...got upset because I walked between him and the TV. When I tried to apologize, he got up from his chair and…" Her voice trailed off as she looked away.

Luke could not believe what he was hearing. "Your dad hit you?"

She nodded at the floor. "It didn't use to be this bad, but lately Dad's been under so much stress that he's drinking a lot more than he had. It's even made Mom yell more, and take even more pills that make her...I don't know...a zombie. I don't know what to do or who t-to go t-t-to." Her chest started to heave as Kodi breathed in and out, quicker by the second. Her eyes were also starting to moisten, as well.

Luke pulled the little girl in and gave her opposite arm, a comforting rub. "I'm glad you did, sweetheart. This shouldn't be happening to you. Your parents should be taking care of you, not hurting you."

Kodi let it all out, crying into his shirt. "It...it...it h-hurts," she managed to say."

"What hurts? Your eye?"

"No...where you're...r-rubbing."

Luke suddenly looked down at the kid, his gaze quickly switching to her arm. Being gentle as possible, he pulled up her sleeve, revealing several bruises, some newly fresh, some almost completely faded. His mouth dropped open, in surprise. He couldn't believe at what he saw.

His arms tightened around the kid, holding an arm around her head, holding it to him. "Sweetheart, you're not going home."

Kodi sniffed in. "I have to. Dad will go ballistic if I don't come home on time."

"That's exactly why you're not going home, _ever_ ," he told her.

Kodi lifted her head to look at the guy, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Kodi, I can't let you go home, knowing you're not even safe in your own house. That's a risk I'm not willing to take," he said, firmly.

"Then, where am I gonna go?"

"For starters, I have to alert the police about this," he said.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "But you promised you wouldn't tell anybody!"

"I know, sweetheart, but that was before I knew you were being hurt by an adult and I can't sit by and let it happen, knowing the truth."

"No, please don't tell, Luke!" she shook her head, her eyes tearing up again. "Please don't. I'm not even supposed to tell or…" Kodi quickly shut her mouth, sucking in both lips.

"Or what, Kodi?" Luke urged her to spit it out. "What will happen if you tell somebody?"

She dropped her gaze, staring at the floor again.

"Kodi." He kept up a gentle firmness.

She was running her top teeth along her bottom lip, now, scratching at it.

His face softened as Luke watched the kid. Her one sleeve he had pulled up was still raised. A tear had escaped, falling along the lines from the tears that had dried on her face. Taking her hand Kodi held on the couch beside her, into his, Luke gave it a gentle squeeze.

"He…." That was all Kodi managed to get out before having to catch her breath. Luke encouraged her to continue, his own heart starting to beat faster against his chest. "Dad said...he...would...would…" She hesitated once more before continuing which he had to remind her to breathe. "B-beat me...and...not...s-stop if I...ever...told...someone." She was gasping for air in between each word.

Luke's heart just about stopped. "Oh, sweetheart." Kodi bit down on her lip as a couple more tears fell before he pulled her in. Luke held her for as long as she needed. "It was good you came to me, Kodi. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again." His tone was almost a whisper.

It took some coaxing, but Kodi finally allowed Luke to call the authorities about what was going on at home. They had to come by the diner and ask her a few questions and had her show them the bruises plastered all over her arms. There were even some scars along her back.

Luke ended up being right. Kodi wasn't going home. Instead, she was sent to a foster home right there in town, so he still got to see her, everyday after school. That never stopped. Neither one knew what they would do if Kodi had to go away.

The frowns Kodi used to wear a lot were scarce from that point on and most of the time Luke saw her beautiful smile the kid had, that could light up a room. Every day after school, she'd stop by, dashing right over to him and give him a big hug, sometimes almost causing Luke to almost drop a plate of food he was carrying. He'd get mad, but the guy couldn't remain that way for long, not with an adorable face like hers.

There was a point when she confided in him again, only this time to tell him how much she missed her parents.

It surprised Luke. "How can you miss those people?" he asked of her.

She shrugged. "They're still my mom and dad. And besides, I miss before the drinking and the drugs started. Back when we were still a happy family, and we'd cuddle together and watch movies, and our trips to the park we used to take. Mom always brought extra bread so we could feed the ducks, and Dad would teach me to fish, and we'd all sit there on the bank, and laugh and talk about whatever. We usually hardly catch anything, but it was great."

Luke leaned on the counter, across from her her, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

She shrugged, "It's okay. It's the happy memories I try to remember when the bad ones come back to my mind."

"Well, I know I can't bring those positive memories back for ya, but if you ever wanted to go fishing again. You're always welcome when I go."

Kodi perked up at the sound of that, her eyes widening. Only this time, in a good way. "Really?"

He smiled. "You bet."

"Okay then. Yeah, that would be awesome!" Kodi was beaming from ear to ear, lit up like a Christmas tree.

So, once the weather was nice enough and with permission from both her foster parents and caseworker, Kodi tagged along on one of Luke's fishing trips, and it certainly wasn't the only one, either. Even when his own daughter, April, came into the picture, Kodi was still an important part of his life.

Luke was just glad everything turned out alright when he knew things could have taken a whole other turn, especially if Kodi hadn't of come to him about what was going on. He did not even want to think about what could have happened if she hadn't. It was strange nobody even knew what was going on right in their own town. One just never knows what goes on behind closed doors.

The End

 ** _Hadn't planned on writing this one, but I got a request from Chloe2007 to write something like this. So, there you go! :)_**


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